Brighton to London Fun Run – The Morning After!

So the day for the London to Brighton run had finally reached us. A total of about 16 cars headed off in the direction of London via an elaborate route of back roads and twisty sections with only our wits and our directions to help us. Cars were generally set off with 5 minutes or so between them but not wanting to get too lost the 2 German cars went together as did the 5 Belgium Cars. 10 minutes later, myself and Sue left last to give chase and check for lost Cappuccinos. Heading over the brow of a hill I spot a petrol station and not knowing how many chances I might get for filling up I pull in. Imagine my face when I stop to find that there were now 6 Cappuccinos sitting in the petrol station, all with the same idea! Needless to say a convoy was started that took in all of the route with a couple of ‘diversions’ in the process! The route was a real classic, thank you Alex!, and took in some fantastic views as well as some really nice, tight, twisty corners for our delight. I can’t put into words the fun had but as soon as I’ve managed to upload some of the stuff captured on camcorder, I might just be able to share the experience! We eventually turned up at Richmond Park and after a quick discussion with Richmond Park Police (they have their own police force!!) We were allowed to park up for a picnic on the grass, with a range of onlookers stopping for a closer peak. Here we met up with more cars to have a total of about 21 cars which made an amazing display. A Cappuccino quiz took place, with questions such as, how many vertical heater elements are there on a Cappuccino? and is the petrol gauge to the left or the right of the Rev counter? With this done and Matthew Alexander winning first prize, we organised ourselves for a daring dash through the heart of the City of London, to meet chaos (and to create plenty) head on.

Into the City

Alright, Yes! its about time I added this bit…..here goes! CHAOS!!!!!! – the only word that can describe giving a map to a group of Cappuccino’s owners consisting mainly of either non-English or English with no or little London knowledge and letting them loose in the capital! Excitement turned into fun and laughter as we took wrong turnings changed our minds and led each other round in circles. Eventually and inevitably, we got split up by a junction, but fortunately our little convoy of cars (4 I think) managed to stop a little way on and I ran back to discuss our battle plans. With grubby A-Z in her hands (or was it a little A-Z in her grubby hands!?!) Sue managed to direct me around, through and back to the other Cappuccino’s and back up to full strength we made our assault on, amongst other things, Trafalgar Square! Exiting a junction we came across the rest of the guys and girls, who had caught up with each other, and we stopped to check for lost members. Daniella, Daniella!! What happened!! How was it that you managed to get lost in Kings Cross!! and Matius (who doesn’t speak any English) was still with us!! (for you information we didn’t go anywhere NEAR Kings Cross!) After discussions and chats we set off for Tower Bridge in one big convoy. This did involve the odd dodgy manoeuvre plus a quick stop on a set of double red lines!! (!?) Luckily the few Police that we did bump into were very good natured and just wondered why there were so many Cappuccinos running around. “There’s only about 18 of us” replied Matthew Alexander when questioned, “But we’ve seen at least 50 or so today” came the reply, “We’ll yes, they’re the same cars going round in circles!” At this point Alex was directing Daniella, via Matius’s mobile phone, back to us but try as he did, she wasn’t get any closer and obviously getting quite frustrated in the meantime. To cut a long story short(ish) we managed to get everyone together and make arrangements for our final journeys. We were to head back towards Brighton for an evening meal but on the way, Alex was to lead our two German cars back towards Calais.<BR>The scene of all 3 lanes of the motorway taken up by mad Cappuccino drivers was just fantastic and though myself and Matthew had visions of the Belgium’s following Alex by mistake, we managed to toot, beep and flash our goodbyes to those leaving us and take the correct junction south. There isn’t a lot to say now, apart from the fact that again, far too many UK owners missed a great meeting, it was nice to see some people that couldn’t make the whole weekend make the effort to meet us at the Telscombe Tavern or Richmond park.

My thanks go to Alex Clouter who, once again, organised another excellent meeting for us all. Cheers to Clive and Yvonne for turning up to….Everything!! Matthew and Tori who not only turned up but managed to lead us part the way through London and then followed us back to Brighton for a bite to eat and a chinwag. They eventually got back to Norwich at 3am!! Thanks to everybody that turned up. You all know who you are.. And for
everybody else…..it was your loss!